Rule.



No. 762,474. PATENTED JUNE 14, I904.

Q G. S. POSSELMAN.

RULE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 27, 1904.

N0 MODEL.

Wiznewe J ven tor" AM 64% JM Mam W w I do: uoam s PniRs-cu, mom-urns" mswumm n c UNITED STATES Patented June 14,1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

RULE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N0. 762,474, dated June 14, 1904.

Application filed February 27, 1904. Serial No. 195.553. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I,CHARLEs S, FOSSELM'AN, a citizen of the United States, and aresident of Hartford, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Rules, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates, primarily, to rules, and more particularly to a rule which may be used for a number of purposes.

The object of the invention is to provide a rule so constructed and arranged as to preclude the possibility of blotting due to the ink which may be used following the rule back to the surface of the paper upon which it rests.

Another object is to provide a combined rule and blotter which may be used with great facility and rapidity without liability of blurring lines already drawn.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a view illustrating the rule. Fig. 2 is a crosssectional view of the same. Fig. 3 is a rear face View with the blotting pad removed. Fig. t is a sectional view of a modified form of the device, showing the duplex arrangement.

In the use of an ordinary rule where ink is employed for lining it often happens that the pen running against the edge of the rule will permit the ink to run down under the edge and against the paper which is being lined or ruled. use of ordinary rules to prevent this blotting and blurring, and an unusual amount of time is required to prevent accidental flow of the ink-to the paper along the edge of the rule. In fact, it is customary to wipe the edge of the rule across a blotter or the like after drawing a line for fear the accumulated ink will flow back under its edge. In the device hereinafter described this trouble is entirely avoided by providing a ruling-surface and arranging a blotting-pad appurtenant thereto which will absorb any ink that may pass under the ruling edge.

In the accompanying drawings the letter a denotes the body part of the rule, which may be formed in any desired manner and of any desired material, although, as shown herein, the preferred method is to stamp or blank the body part out of sheet metal, bending it to Great care has to be exercised in the the required form to provide a pocket 5, into which the blotting-pad 0 may be slid and held in any desired manner. The body part a has an angularly disposed ruling edge a", and the opposite side and ends of the body part are turned back upon the body part, as at d, 0,

and f. This turning back of the side and end a portions of the body forms a pocket or recess,

into which the blotting-pad 0 may be slid. Of course this blotting-pad may be made up of a series of strips of absorbent material, andthese strips may be interchanged one with the other or turned over one upon the other to always provide a clean blotting-surface The absorbent pad cis slightly narrower in width than the full width of the body part of the rule, and when in place its outer edge underlies the angularly-disposed ruling edge a, this giving an unobstructed edge against which the pen may run, but providing an absolute check to absorb any ink that may run down the narrow side (0 adjacent to the ruling edge a.

The pad 0 really has a double function. It not only absorbs the ink which accidentally runs over the edge of the rule, but provides a means for. blotting lines already drawn and at the same time exerts a gripping force upon the paper, thus preventing the slipping of the rule in use. It must be seen that it is possible to use the rule with great rapidity, lining from the bottom of the page upward and blotting the lines as they are drawn.

If it is desired, the body part of the rule or the several sheets. of the blotting-pad may be colored and printed in any desired or artistic manner, whereby the device may be readily used as an advertising medium. The pads being readily removed from or inserted in the rule may be changed from time to time and covered with various sorts of advertising matter, or each of the several sheets of the pad may contain a different advertisement. It willthus be seen that the usefulness and value of the device is materially enhanced.

It is obvious that various changes might be made in the device without departing materially from the scope or intent of the invention, and, in fact, the several parts may be arranged in any desired manner so long as provision is made for absorbing any inlc which flows over the ruling-surface, thus preventing it from reaching the paper which is being ruled.

In Fig. 4c of the drawings there is shown a slightly-modified arrangenicn t, in which a pad of absorbent material is applied to both sides of the rule. tages, particularly when used as an advertising medium, inasmuch as the several sections of the pad may be printed upon in any dcsi red manner and always present the advertising matter to the eyes of the user.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A rule provided with a ruling edge and having a pocket substantially equal to the length and width of the rule and an absorbent material arranged in said pocket and lying adjacent to the ruling edge.

2. A rule comprising a body part having a ruling edge and stamped up from metal said body part being provided with a pocket substantially equal to the length and width 01 said This form has certain advan-- ity of independent interchangeable sections.

5. A rule having a body part formed of sheet metal with a plurality of its edges turned back to form a pocket, a pad arranged within the pocket and a ruling edge appurtenant to the body part and pad.

CHARLES S. FOSSELMAN.

\Vitnesses:

WM. H. BARKER, CoRA M. ATWOOD. 

